Vast portions of west and central Africa have become so dry that they can't support crops, livestock and the millions of people who live there.

The Sahel - a belt of arid land that stretches across Africa below the Sahara Desert - is a zone prone to cycles of drought, and eight countries are seeing the worst of it this time.

The United Nations estimates that more than 10 million people are in danger of starving to death. Aid workers on the ground say it's getting worse quickly.

In response, UNICEF is launching a 24-hour social media campaign on Tuesday to raise awareness about the food crisis in Africa.

Called #SahelNOW, the campaign asks users on Facebook, Twitter and other social media to post messages over the day Tuesday to boost awareness of the problem and the estimated 1 million children in danger.

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Dave Andrews

Here's how you solve more than one problem. Use hydroponics. I have a small 28 plant hydroponic system called "Living Towers." It generates as much food as my old 18 x 60 garden used to AND it takes only 1/10th of the water to produce the food. There are larger systems out there for larger populations. Rather than simply giving them "aid," give them the ability to help themselves. In a place like Africa, these things will produce year-round, will take only 1/10th the water and will produce more food than the same number of plants in diry and all in a tiny little footprint. When there's a lack of both food and water, this is by FAR the best possible option to resolve the situation.

Seriously Folks. If the World would start sending Suitcases full of food so that in turn they could eat and then pack the meager belongings in the empty suitcase for immigration through out the World, this would end the Misery of Starvation. But it seems the world keeps putting it off by providing a meager handful of hope and donated food. You cannot WILL any God to make it rain so that Crops grow so that the Starving have food to eat and roofs to live under and therefore a path to education by way of inter village/community profit through sales of food. We simply delay death with meager yearly Handouts. Band aids for this phenom never work, the wound under the Band aid becomes infected and then the victim dies.

The answers are already in Africa, costs about 35.00 per person, has lasted for over 25 years. For over 25 years the answer has been being slowly deployed to solve this very problem.
Sand Dams, a very low tech community achieveable and maintainable solution has been working in parts of South eastern Kenya, Zimbabwea, and Ethiopia for over 25 years. Joshua Silu Mukusya's Utooni Development Org has worked with communities in Africa building 800 such installations. These communities faced this exact problem. Using local rock, Community labor, some site expertise, supplemental cement and rebar to develop these facilities. They trap the seasonal rains Yes, it rains, but its short termed and intense, in a sand and graval bar and perserve water for the people to use for sanitary drinking and irrigation.
Groups that have also worked with this idea include, SASOL (Sahelian Solutions) Excellent Development,WaterAid.
Some of the groups answer the complaint that nothing helps these situations. They stay on, help the local communities to terrace or Swale their land to help absorb the rains and curtail erosion. They assist in helping start local tree nurseries, now water is available. Also seed banks are established to help grow food. Tree varieties grow and survive initially with hand irrigation. They begin to shade the area, retaining humidity lowering tempatures and cushioning the thunderstorm downpours. The biotopes expand and becomes more capable of getting through a drought.
Proably one of the best or saddest kept secrets around. Check out how you can really help people in the Sahel its cheap and has provided water for over 20 years through various droughts.
The answer is already in Africa.

The United Nations conference targeting the $1 billion-a-year illicit trade in small arms continued today with speakers from the African continent among those calling urgently for a global crack down on illegal arms dealers and tighter arms regulations - especially the activities of brokers - whose deadly wares often fell into the hands of non-State actors and fuelled conflict, contributed to poverty, and stalled development in their fragile countries.

Obviously what the heros of peace, democracy and freedom were doing is not working. Single Tomahawk missile could fees a million if those advertisement of charity funds are true. US fired 20,000 of them in Iraq in 2003. Hell fire missile maybe quarter million, few tens of thousands of those used in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Also looting oil from Nigeria and Angola by companies like Halliburton won't help.

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